Last night I got the itch to cage my baja all the way. So today I bought 60 feet of tubing. 40 feet of 1 1/2 inch and 20 feet of 1 inch. I'm starting with the front of the car and I'll be working my way backwards. Since I'm a college student with barely any money, the suspension components (arms and such) will stay the same, less longer shocks which are free. I'm hoping to have the front done by next friday/saturday so I can take it out for some testing. I'll try posting pictures of the progress every day after I get done working on it. The fun part is going to be trying to keep this thing driveable so I have transportation to work.

fo sho dude we were talking about that the other day man
sounds like great fun
if you need some help im right down the street (ok not literally) and if you want some help call me up and i can give you a hand if im not at work
always willing to help out a brother you know what i mean...
keep us posted

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jamesr6168 wrote:

CAUSE YOU WERE THINK,N WITH YOUR DIPSTICK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,JIMMY!

A great source for tubing is Industrial Metal Supply off 48th & Broadway. Good 1-1/2 .090 wall tubing (mild steel) should run about $1.60 -$1.80 a foot. Talk to Jeff or Anthony. 602-454-1500 is there number.

The 1 inch tubing (.095 thickness) was $0.92 a foot. The 1 1/2 inch tubing (.095 thickness) was $1.32 a foot. I got it from American Metals on Broadway and Extension. I know for a fact that at Davis Metals in Phoenix, the 1 inch was the same price and the 1 1/2 inch was 2 cents cheaper. Broadway and Extension was just closer for me.

So I was able to put in about 8 hours of work on it today. The front half is way harder than I thought it would be. But I got 3 out of 4 tubes done from the cage to the beam. Here's the progress:

and here's a picture of the new shock compared to the stock shock.
I know they aren't FOAs or Fox's, but these are free, brand new, and have a much longer stroke; plenty for a stock wheel base, stock width, stock arm, daily driven baja. Eventually I'll splurge and get some bilstein 5150s but for now these will do:

Hopefully I'll get all the diagonal bracing done on monday, and hopefully cut the the stock upper shock mounts off and fab the new ones on tuesday/wednesday.

American metals is a great local source to buy metal from. They are limited to sizes on what they sell which is why I suggested IMS but you need to make sure your are getting what paid for. They are a recycling shop and if you don't bring a set of calipers with you, you might be getting what they had on the shelf (.088) which looks alot like .095 but take off the burr and it really measures .088. Just a though.

okay so yesterday i was unable to work on the baja due to a bad toothache and an unfortunate visit to the dentist. (I've had some bad experiences and I really hate dentists) Monday I was able to finish the cage work from inside the car from the a-pillar to the beam.

today i started on the shock hoops and was able to get the passenger side done, and get a small start on the driver side. Remember, I have to keep it driveable cause I work in the afternoons. Anyways, here's a few photos:

once its all finished I'll post some better pictures.
I'll also be redoing my spare tire mount to tie into the new shock hoops and aid in some reinforcement. the first test should be friday night, and then i'll hopefully be going out sunday morning w/ everyone.

I was able to finish the new set up this morning. I can't really tell a difference yet in the ride but time and a little bit of dirt on sunday will tell.

i still need to paint everything and seal the firewall around the tubing but its basically done. I'm also going to move and reposition the headlight mounts so the tires don't rub but its fine for now.

i only have 2 photos. I'll put better ones up when i take the front end off when i seal the holes.

i also had to redo the spare tire mount that i just made. I cut the old mounting brackets off at the bend and used four 2 bolt 1 1/2 inch exhaust flanges so it would still be removable. its hard to see but i think most can grasp the idea:

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